SOURCE: "Reflections on the Work and Influence of John Maynard Keynes," in The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. LXV, No. 4, November, 1951, pp. 578-601.

In the following excerpt, Smithies surveys Keynes's career, commenting on the relationship between his economic theories and his philosophical beliefs, his views on domestic and international economic policy, his method of argument, the success of his policy proposals, and the political consequences of his theories.

I

The publication of Mr. Harrod's biography of Keynes will enable many of us who were not his intimates to reflect on his personality and achievement in a way that was not possible before. It will enable those who knew but one aspect of his many-sided life to form some idea of his extraordinary versatility.

Mr. Harrod deserves our gratitude for his painstaking investigations and our congratulations for not being overpowered by his eminent subject. However, I am not entirely...